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Outline 047 of 100 · Ruth

Ruth and the Kinsman-Redeemer

Ruth 2:1-12, 4:1-10 — Boaz as a picture of Christ our Redeemer

Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.

Synopsis

Ruth was a Moabite widow with no legal claim on Israel's inheritance, gleaning in a field she did not own, when Boaz noticed her and extended favour she had not earned. The book turns on a Hebrew legal office — the go'el, the kinsman-redeemer — a near relative with both the right and the means to buy back a lost inheritance and raise up an heir for the dead. Boaz fulfils this role for Naomi's family and for Ruth herself, but a nearer kinsman had first refusal and declined, unwilling to risk his own inheritance for another's sake. Christ is the true Kinsman-Redeemer: near enough to us by His incarnation to qualify, willing where every other possible redeemer refused, and rich enough to buy back what sin had forfeited. Ruth's step of faith — coming under the wing she had already found refuge beneath — pictures every sinner's plea for the Redeemer's covering.

  1. I. A stranger with no legal claim

    • Ruth was a Moabite, outside Israel's covenant by birth
    • She had nothing to offer but need and diligence
    • Grace notices the needy who have no claim of their own

  2. II. The nearer kinsman who refused

    • The law gave first right of redemption to a closer relative
    • He declined, fearing to mar his own inheritance
    • Every human redeemer eventually fails or refuses the cost

  3. III. Boaz, willing and able

    • He had both the right of kinship and the wealth to redeem
    • He redeemed publicly, at the gate, before witnesses
    • His redemption raised up the name of the dead in the inheritance

  4. IV. Christ our true Kinsman-Redeemer

    • He became near to us by taking our flesh
    • He alone was willing to bear the full cost of redemption
    • Coming under His wing pictures the sinner's plea for covering
The appeal

Like Ruth, you may have no claim to lay before God but your need. The nearer kinsmen of this world — your own effort, your own righteousness — will always decline the cost. But Christ, both willing and able, calls you to come under His wing today and be redeemed at His own expense.

Key points

  • Grace reaches those with no covenant claim of their own
  • Every human redeemer eventually refuses the full cost; Christ never does
  • Redemption is both a legal transaction and a personal covering

Key passages

  • Ruth 2:12
  • Ruth 3:9
  • Ruth 4:9-10
  • Galatians 4:4-5